Well, we’re starting to hit the home stretch of this pregnancy, which has me pretty excited. As much as I love being pregnant, the anticipation of seeing our daughter’s beautiful face finally is really starting to hit. Is she going to look like Stephen? Me? Jonathan (so also Stephen)? What color is her hair? What color are her eyes? How can I already love her so much already?
I thought it would be fun to talk about some of the differences between my pregnancy with Jonathan and this one with Abigail. The photos above make me think of a few: I’m 4.5 years older, wear makeup significantly less often, and live in a different house -but still rock the same awkward pose.
Not Knowing Gender vs Knowing
One of the biggest differences this time around is that we’ve known since our 20-week ultrasound that we have a little baby girl on the way. With Jonathan, we didn’t know he was a boy until Stephen told me as soon as he was born. How has this affected things?
Well, the biggest thing that I’ve noticed with knowing is that I feel like there’s more pressure to actually do things in the nursery. Maybe it’s bringing out my underlying planner tendencies that retired with my administrative assistant career. J’s nursery had everything he needed, but wasn’t particularly exciting. Now that we know we have Abigail on the way, I feel like I need to get it done and need to know what I want. It should look like a baby girl’s room, right? This has led to a lot of Pinterest-ing, Hobby Lobby-ing and crafting.
One of the first things that I knew I wanted was a floral letter for above her crib, and this one that Rebekah and I made fulfills all of my hopes and dreams. It’s beautiful and exactly what I was hoping for. Having extremely talented, artistic family is the best. We still have quite a bit to do, but thanks to Rebekah, I have direction and ideas and someone who is kindly willing to help execute.
Not knowing was a special kind of fun, specifically annoying our family and friends. Deciding to find out this time has also been fun – but in a different way. Jonathan calling his sister by name is just about the cutest thing. He mostly calls her “Baby Sister” but the way he says Abigail gives me all the feelings.
Winter vs Summer Pregnancy
I’ve always heard that being pregnant in the summer is a different animal. I will agree that it is definitely HOTTER to be pregnant in the summer – having your own personal heater in the winter was not so bad. Having a personal heater in the summer – man, it’s warm. I am actually wearing shorts. The city of Castle Rock may no longer be able to see from the brightness, but shorts are happening.
Strangely enough though, things on the swelling front have been better this time around. I had gestational hypertension with Jonathan, which probably contributed to the swelling. Pregnancy fat face was REAL last time, but I haven’t had it nearly as bad yet. I haven’t really had much swelling at all this time (except when traveling) and that’s a very welcome change. My blood pressure has been textbook this time around, too, which is great.
Working vs Stay-at-Home
With Jonathan, I worked until the point that I was admitted to the hospital. Like literally left work early to go to my 39-week appointment and was admitted a few hours later, sending Stephen home to pack a hospital bag that I hadn’t yet packed. Working full time while pregnant with Jonathan kept me busy and probably contributed to the hypertension & swelling.
Staying home sounds like it would be a lot easier, but add in a very active 4-year-old and I’m probably even more tired this time around. It’s nice to be able to put my feet up whenever I need to, but I also have a kiddo who asks me to carry him still, comes in like an actual wrecking ball, and refuses to let me nap. First-pregnancy-naps were golden. On the plus side, I feel like I get to feel Abigail move around a lot more during the day. Jonathan was a super active baby (he’s a Rabon, what can we say) but during work hours I wouldn’t notice it as much. Now that I work from home/make my own schedule, I feel like Abigail moves around ALL DAY. Because, she too, is a Rabon.
One more fun thing:
Abigail already loves her dad. It’s so cute and I can’t wait to see those two together after she’s born. If I sit next to him on the couch, she will move her entire body towards the sound of his voice. You can actually see my belly shift from her previous position to pointing directly at him. {insert ALL of the heart eyes here}
Bonus photo for reading everything:
Jonathan partied so hard at the beach the first day we were in California that he passed out in the car and then on a giant bean bag and curled up like he did when we was a baby. He looks so tiny!
Quote the Rabon 